5. Zombie
FIVE
ZOMBIE
I heard the chime of the front door seconds before a tall, muscular man walked into my medical room. For a second, I thought he might be the friend in need. But then I saw her.
Behind the monster of a man was a petite woman, her blonde hair ending in pink tips.
She looked tiny compared to the man in front of her.
Her white blouse and jeans were covered in dried blood and dirt, while her black-rimmed glasses lay crooked on her nose.
I was instantly alert when I saw the laceration and the purple-black bruise on her cheek, along with harsh red lines on her wrists, presumably from rope.
I stared at her for a moment too long, caught off guard by the softness of her features, her sparkling blue eyes and her subtle curves.
I was overwhelmed by the thought that she looked like an angel that had fallen from the heavens.
The man next to her spoke, pulling me out of my head.
I didn’t typically deal with alive patients, so knowing that I was helping someone before an untimely demise was a welcomed change.
“Doc,” the large man said with a nod of his head before placing his hand on the small of the woman’s back.
“Hi, how can I help?” I asked as I snapped on a pair of latex gloves.
They both came to a stop. I looked at the woman with calculating eyes, as I attempted to figure out the extent of her injuries. The urge to help and find solutions weighed heavy on me as I took in the situation in front of me.
“I’m Bohdi, and this is Lennie. Kade sent us so you can check her out.”
I nodded and motioned for Lennie to sit on my table. “Okay, Lennie, you can have a seat.”
Lennie walked over to me with a limp and a hand over her left ribcage. Slowly, she climbed onto the cold metal table, wincing at the movement.
My hands shot out of their own accord, and I tried to help her sit comfortably on the table. Her blue eyes met mine, and I swore time stood still. She was beautiful even though she was clearly in pain.
Focus, Dante, I scolded myself.
“Can you tell me where you hurt the most?” I asked, still holding onto the sides of her upper arms.
Lennie cleared her throat, and I dropped my hands to my sides.
“My ribs,” she responded in a small voice.
I looked over at Bohdi, who was standing too close for comfort with his arms crossed over his chest.
“What happened?” I asked a little harshly, making Bohdi raise an eyebrow at me.
“That’s not my story to tell,” he responded coolly.
I looked at Lennie. When she hesitated, I looked back at Bohdi. “Can you give us the room, please, Bohdi?”
Bohdi nodded before exiting the examination area.
I turned back to Lennie as she hugged herself. Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to take deep breaths.
I bent down slightly to meet her gaze. In a softer voice, I asked, “Lennie, can you tell me what happened so I can make sure I am checking everything that hurts and don’t miss anything?”
She gave me a small nod and looked down at the floor, playing with a heart-shaped pendant on her necklace as she spoke. “I was kidnapped, and my kidnapper decided to use me as a punching bag to make a point to Kade.”
My blood began to boil once more that she was wrapped up in any of Kade’s Mafia bullshit.
Now that I’d heard her name, I recognized that she was in charge of the Hive for RSS.
What didn’t make sense was how she was getting involved in the more nefarious parts of Kade’s business.
But that was for another time. I needed to focus on her medical needs.
“Can you point to all the places that were hit? Did you lose consciousness, were you drugged?”
She nodded and began to point to her face, her ribs, and her back. “Yes, to both of your questions,” Lennie said with a hoarse voice.
“Okay, I’m going to need you to take off your clothes, and I’ll give you a gown to put on,” I said before opening a drawer near the bed, grabbing a gown for her, and placing it on the table.
“I’ll give you some privacy.” I turned and walked to the other side of the lab where my office was, a small room off the main part of the lab, and closed the door to give her some privacy.
After a few minutes, I returned to where Lennie sat with her shoulders hunched, and I noted how big the covering was on her. Beside her were her clothes, neatly folded on the table. I grabbed my stethoscope and walked over.
“I’m going to check your breathing first, and then we will take the x-ray. Do you have any medical history that I should be aware of before I start?”
Lennie shook her head no.
“Okay,” I started before moving my instrument toward the opening in the back of the gown. Bruises marred her skin. I clenched my jaw at the sight before reminding myself to breathe. “This might be cold.”
I pressed the stethoscope to her back, making her jolt. She let out a little gasp and I forced down the feelings that arose, focusing instead on the sound of her lungs. I tried to ignore the warmth coming off of her, the softness of her skin when my fingers brushed against it.
“Breathe in,” I instructed. “Breathe out.”
Lennie did as I asked, and I continued to move the chest piece over her back.
“I’m going to listen to the front now.” I checked each side of her chest, listening intently, then wrapped the stethoscope around my neck before speaking once more.
“Everything sounds okay, but I want to double-check with an x-ray. Because of the exposure, I have to ask, is there any chance of pregnancy?”
She shook her head vehemently. “Definitely not.”
Well, that was good to know. I gave her a nod and asked her to follow me to the x-ray room. She stood in front of the machine while I positioned it.
I moved to the control panel and snapped a few pictures before repositioning the machine to get a different angle.
Once I finished, I led her back to the examination table and looked at the images.
Rage bubbled inside me when I noted the cracked rib on her left side.
Once again, I couldn’t help but wonder how she’d gotten tangled in some of the darker aspects of Kade’s mafia business.
From my observations, she didn’t seem like someone who would have been doing the dirty work.
Then again, I was one to talk, considering I was the son of a deranged sex trafficker and member of a team who killed bad people regularly.
I closed out of the images and changed my gloves. Lennie sat on the table, fidgeting with her fingers. Her eyes met mine, brimming with questions.
“So, Lennie, it would appear you have a cracked rib on your left side. The bruising on your torso would also indicate localized trauma to that area.”
She nodded as more tears welled up in her eyes.
“The rib could take six to twelve weeks to heal, but you should notice a significant decrease in pain after a couple of days. I’m going to give you some pain medication to help reduce your discomfort. If you have any shortness of breath, call me immediately.”
She looked at me, confused. “Call you? Not 911? I shouldn’t go to the ER?”
Shit. Why did I say that? It would be better for her to use emergency services. But for some reason, I hated the idea of her going to anyone else.
I grabbed an antiseptic and some gauze so I could clean the wound on her face.
“I have more connections and would be able to see you more quickly. At the ER, you might have to wait.” This wasn’t a lie; however, I was definitely making myself seem more important than I actually was.
Lennie gave me a small smile. “Well, okay then.”
As I tended to her wound, I noticed she was looking at my name tag.
“Doctor Dante Spinelli,” she said to herself before looking back up at me. “They call you Zombie, right?”
My nickname on her lips took me by surprise. She’d probably heard Phantom—Kade’s girlfriend—say my name in passing, but it was still weird to hear my nickname come from a stranger.
“Yeah, but you can call me Dante or Z.” Only the ones closest to me called me by my actual name or Z. Now that Phantom’s secret was out, we weren’t as vigilant about using our code names, only really using them out of habit or when we were on a mission.
Lennie gave me a warm smile before wincing as I dabbed the laceration on her cheek.
“Sorry,” I grumbled. “Almost done.”
Thankfully the cut didn’t need stitches, but it would definitely take some time to heal.
I continued to do a quick physical on her and found no evidence of internal bleeding or infection.
With that determination I felt a little more at ease knowing that the injuries she sustained could have resulted in much worse outcomes.
Once I was done cleaning the wound and covering it, I disposed of the used gauze and gloves before walking over to my medicine cabinet.
Unlocking it, I quickly grabbed the painkillers that I planned to give to Lennie and turned back to her.
She was looking at the deep red gashes on her wrists. Rage boiled inside me once more.
My rope marks should be covering her beautiful skin instead.
The thought took me by surprise. I was very much into shibari and rope play, but rarely ever had that desire when I first met someone, and now was certainly not the right time to entertain the idea.
I opened a drawer under the medical table and grabbed more supplies.
“It will take a little bit for the marks to go away,” I mentioned as I began to wrap her wrists in the bandages.
A tear fell down her cheek, making me clench my jaw. I hated seeing her like this.
Without thinking, I brushed the tear away from her cheek with my thumb. She looked at me questioningly, but remained silent.
After I finished wrapping her wrists, I grabbed a pair of my extra scrubs for her to put on.
I knew she would be swimming in them since I was over a foot taller than her; however, I assumed she wouldn’t want to put her blood-stained clothes back on.
It would also give me the opportunity to run some forensics on the fabric of her clothes.
So many emotions filled her eyes that I had to look away.